monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

So many obvious lies and total obfuscations!

Refusal to appear based on a presidential order IS the classic definition of obstruction.

Please explain how Trump's obstruction of justice by blocking people to testify in front of a lawful Congressional hearing is not an impeachable offense.

This is how it works. The big lie. The endless spin. The outright denial of facts. Again and again and again. The complete destruction and devaluation of truth for political gain. Overwhelm reality with fiction, concoctions, and false narratives. Embrace deceit and duplicity.

For rogues, scoundrels, tyrants, princes and princesses of corruption—and their henchmen—the truth is a threat. It must be crushed. It must be vanquished. Abuse of power cannot exist alongside accountability. Malefactors cannot survive within an atmosphere of truth. It is a suffocating poison for them. So they must deceive, and they must dissemble. That is what the United States’ top law enforcement officer demonstrated this week.

Following the release of the Justice Department inspector general’s report on the origins and management of the Trump-Russia investigation, Attorney General William Barr went into full Oceania war-is-peace mode to erase truth in order to protect and soothe his dear leader, Donald Trump. Moments after the report appeared—it concludes the FBI had been right to open an investigation of interactions between Trump associates and Russia in 2016, as Moscow was attacking the US election to help Trump win the White House—Barr challenged the findings. He declared that he knew better than the IG and that the FBI had launched the probe “on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken.” Barr noted that his own hand-picked federal prosecutor, John Durham, would be conducting a separate review and have the final word. And the next day, Barr continued his brazen campaign of disinformation. In an interview with NBC News, he called the FBI investigation “completely baseless.” Barr depicted the probe as a “danger” to civil liberties and the American political system. He was twisting up into down...

You should deal with the fact Trump broke the law by bribing a foreign government to dig up dirt on a political rival and withholding aid until they announced a fake investigation.

You should also deal with the fact Trump obstructed justice by telling key witnesses to ignore a lawful subpoena to appear before Congress.

more people have been killed in the named of Jesus than any or reason.

Steve Vladeck
@steve_vladeck
Barr: It's deeply offensive to our civil liberties for a presidential administration to investigate its potential successors and/or try to interfere in an election.

Also Barr: The President was absolutely within his rights to ask Ukraine for help digging up dirt on the Bidens.

'Tis the season for nativity scenes celebrating the promise of loving families and the the mercy of Jesus.

Josh Marshall
@joshtpm
White House says Trump to discuss "election security" with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Yes. And notice the disparity on who has been targeted and influenced. 10 pts versus 45 pts.

Paul Waldman
@paulwaldman1
My favorite reaction to the IG report is Lou Dobbs saying that because it refuted the idea of a Deep State conspiracy against Trump, that proves it was engineered by the Deep State conspiracy against Trump:

No it isn't. What part of the obstruction statutes outlaw "disagreeing with the extent of Congress' authority and letting the courts decide"?

Prosecutors noted that Gates, who is due to be sentenced Dec. 17, continued to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller and investigators even after receiving “pressure not to cooperate ... including assurances of monetary assistance.”

They did not detail who made those “assurances” of monentary help to Gates.